Posts from the “Music” Category

Posted on May 28th, 2014

Last night at the Kennedy Center the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra performed works of Arvo Pärt, under the direction of Tönu Kaljuste. As spectacular as the recordings of Pärt’s music are (some of my favorites are the Berliner Messe, Te Deum, Fratres, and Für Alina), nothing compares to hearing it performed live by the world’s best interpreters. The acoustics in the Kennedy Center are grand, and the whispering violin in the opening sequence of Fratres was audible 26 rows back, while the choir’s roar during the Te Deum was rapturous. It is now several decades since the fall of the Soviet Union.Yet a rising Russia and the new atheism, combined with threats on religious liberty by the Obama administration,…

Posted on April 15th, 2014

Posted on December 11th, 2012

Jazz pianist Pamela York has a new album out, this time of hymns and spirituals. It’s called Lay Down This World, and the opening track will be a hit with Lutherans. Check it out here at iTunes. It’s also available at Amazon and elsewhere. It’s rare that I buy an entire album straight up without previewing every track, but Pam’s previous albums are terrific, and she’s also a great person: I met her at Berklee College of Music, and we went to church together at Park Street in Boston. Seriously, go buy it right now.